Weekend Musings | July 21, 2024
Life, lately.
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My birthday is coming up next week, so naturally I am taking inventory of the year. I consider myself lucky to have a mid-summer birthday - it gives me a second “New Years” roughly half way through the calendar year, and you bet I make some new resolutions.
But mostly, what’s been on my mind is recognizing that while this is the oldest I’ve ever been, it’s also the youngest I will ever be again. Someday, 35 will sound as deliciously young as 25 does now, so why not appreciate it while I’m here.
I kicked off 2024, optimistically calling it The Year of My Body, in which I envisioned losing 15lbs, which hasn’t happened. 7 months into the year, and it feels like a failure.
Losing weight has consumed my brain for at least 17 years now, maybe more. That’s my vision of health, right? I have an arbitrary number in my head that keeps creeping higher as the weight gets harder to lose. A few months ago, I randomly decided that I’d like to run a 5k and I picked up running, but candidly, I only started running because I thought the cardio would drive fat-loss. In a surprise mostly for myself, I wound up enjoying the routine of running. It hurts and I huff and puff through ever step, but I enjoy the alone time and the sense of accomplishment as trudge back up my driveway.
If I stand on the scale, I’m likely to consider the first seven months of this year a dud, but the mature part of my brain offers to remind me that having an exercise routine that I manage to stick to is in fact a very good accomplishment to achieve in a so-called Year of My Body. Onward!
Bagel or Oysters are equally on brand for me, but the color way of the oysters gives it a strong edge.
Egg salad, haha. Where do you land?
+Sitting in your car is self-care. Heartily consigned on this, Queen of the elite car lunch that I am. Right in the middle of a work day, getting to sit in the comfortable quiet of my car and scroll and eat a snack is top-tier relaxation. My go-to is to run into Meijer and grab a sushi roll, drive across the street to a park, open the windows and just absolutely basque in the indulgence. Self soothing, I call it.
+Considering a new phone case. A visual brain cue to shift into a new quarter, a la this episode of Bad on Paper. Waffling though on my Q3 vibe - am I classy and pulled together? Or a fun cool girl? Or more likely altogether, a little bit of both?
+Birthday Treats. I truly delight in making my own birthday cake. I spend the two weeks leading up to it perusing Pinterest and paging through cookbooks and imagine that I’ll really treat myself to something bonkers, but usually land on an easy recipe, like, an angel food cake with fresh whipping cream and sliced strawberries, which has NEVER disappointed me. Plus spending a couple hours in the kitchen alone, laboring over something so indulgent is a treat in itself. This year I’m leaning towards this Biscoff Sheet Cake or maybe this Cereal and Milk Cake. But I”ll probably make the angel food cake. Know thyself!
+In my heart and in my cart: Loving the green stripes on this aerie sweater (am I too old for aerie? I can’t tell!). Speaking of green stripes, Target continuing to bring their A-game to the summer dress olympics. And speaking of the olympics, I want to root for the home team in this USA crewneck, or maybe this one (back where we started with aerie!).
+Prime Day Snag: these anklets are easily my most exciting purchase. Everything else was restocks.
+On the beauty front: If you sign up for Beauty Insider at Sephora, you get an annual birthday gift, which are usually pretty good. I need to collect mine, so I might as well place an order because one thing about me is I use the entire month as an excuse to treat myself. The big splurge would be this Forever Glow that I keep seeing rave reviews for, and I’d really like to try Rare Beauty’s soft pinch luminous blush. The new-ish strawberry balm dot com is already in my cart because I have a handful of these balms and I am V loyal to them.
